Richard C. Call ‘52, farmer, businessman, Cornell Trustee Emeritus and CALS alumnus, passed away this weekend after battling a long illness. He was 84 years old.
Known as “Dick” to friends and colleagues, Call was one of more 30 members of his extended family to attend Cornell. The Call family farm, My-T Acres, was established in 1922 by his father Robert V. Call '17. It is today one of the largest and most successful farms in New York, operating in Genesee, Orleans and Livingston counties. It is currently run by Call’s three sons, Nathan '76, Peter '79 and Phillip '81, and niece Patricia Call Riner.
As an active and enthusiastic alumnus, Call’s tenure of service to Cornell was rich and varied. He served as a Cornell trustee from 1993 to 2001 and was elected Trustee Emeritus in 2001. At various times he also served as a member of the CALS Advisory Council, the advisory committee of the Department of Animal Science and the Cornell Alumni Association. As a member of the Alpha Zeta agricultural fraternity, he contributed greatly to the success of Alpha Zeta’s Second Century campaign to rebuild the fraternity’s chapter house. For these and many other lasting contributions, Call was honored with a CALS Outstanding Alumni Award in 1985.
His financial generosity to Cornell was equally noteworthy. In addition to establishing a scholarship fund for CALS students, in 2010 he and wife Marie “Bee” Call endowed the Richard C. Call Directorship of Agricultural Sciences with a $1 million gift to CALS.
Call’s passion for service extended far beyond Cornell. He was widely regarded as a pillar of the New York State agricultural community, serving as a director/officer with the Agway Cooperative, Telmark Leasing, H.P. Hood Milk Cooperative, Upstate Milk Cooperative, O-AT-KA Milk Products Cooperative, New York State Dairy Herd Improvement Association, Eastern A.I. Cooperative, Pro-Fac Cooperative and Western Farm Credit Association, as well as being actively involved with the Inter-American Institute of Cooperation on Agriculture and the New York State 4-H Foundation. In recognition of his service to New York agriculture, Call was honored in 2008 with a Distinguished Service Citation from the New York State Agricultural Society.
“Dick Call was a remarkable human being,” said Kathryn Boor, Ronald P. Lynch Dean of the College of Agriculture and Life Sciences. “His abiding commitment to fostering the wellbeing and prosperity of his friends, colleagues, employees and neighbors earned him the respect and admiration of the state’s entire agriculture community. His love of Cornell, his commitment to service and his passion for supporting educational opportunities in CALS for the next generation of New York farmers will be deeply missed.”
In addition to his wife and sons, Call is survived by his brother David Call '54, who served as the Ronald P. Lynch Dean of CALS from 1978 to 1995; brother Robert Vincent Call Jr. '50; sister Evelyn Call Brumstead '46; and numerous grandchildren, nieces and nephews. Call was predeceased by sisters Marie C. Wells '42 and Elizabeth Kingsley '43.
